Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 195 The Optimism of Humanity's Inevitable Victory

When an earthquake occurs, all countries must locate the epicenter and collect and calculate data.

Unlike other countries, Beixing made changes to its plans within just two days due to what happened during the magnitude 2 earthquake.

When the earthquake occurred, the monitoring bureau received the instrument signal and reported it by telephone as usual.

However, this time the latitude and longitude were not reported directly; instead, a string of code was reported.

After the shadowy figure eavesdropped and relayed the information to Guan Tong, Guan Tong immediately realized that the authorities were already on guard against him.

After the last incident, the authorities wanted to find him, but they also wondered how the person who solved the problem of the ley lines knew the location of the earthquake's epicenter.
Just as Guan Tong could deduce that the source of information was the Earthquake Bureau, there's no reason why official personnel couldn't.

In this way, if officials suspect a leak from within the earthquake bureau, they will naturally strengthen security measures. Currently, abandoning plaintext codes and using coded information to represent latitude and longitude coordinates is one such approach.

It must be said that this method is very effective. Guan Tong did not have the corresponding decryption table for the code, so he had no idea what the code meant and therefore could not find out the location of the earthquake source.

"This is trouble."

Guan Tong originally wanted to conduct tests during this earthquake, but he didn't expect the authorities to act so quickly, directly blocking his access to information.

"In that case, we can only wait for the official data," Guan Tong thought. "The authorities have data from the first earthquake, and by comparing it with the data from this third earthquake, we can get a result. If the result is made public, I should be able to make a corresponding judgment."

Without information about the epicenter location, even if Guan Tong spread the shadow lines all over the country, he wouldn't know which one to switch shadows with.

Left with no other option, we can only wait.

Meanwhile, based on the encrypted coordinates of the epicenter, the authorities had already dispatched a data collection team to the location, which arrived within two minutes.

Upon spotting the ley line pillar, the collection team leader immediately reported to his superiors: "The ley line pillar has been discovered. There are no suspicious persons nearby. We will begin contact data collection immediately."

The news was also relayed to the countermeasures research office by the higher-ups, and everyone there felt that they had found the reason.

"It seems the information did indeed originate from the monitoring bureau."

"But the staff on duty last time have all been questioned and passed the lie detector tests conducted by professionals, confirming that there was no leak of information. What's going on?"

"It's possible that miniature listening devices were placed on the person, or that there are some remote eavesdropping devices... The abilities and devices of the Ascended are incredibly diverse, nothing is impossible."

"Yes. As long as the mysterious person doesn't reappear after the coordinates are encrypted this time, it's fine. Otherwise, if the official team can't collect data again, it will undoubtedly affect the accuracy of the model."

People in the conference room talked while watching live footage transmitted back from the scene on the screen.

The data collection team members quickly arrived at the pillar of the ley lines and touched it with their palms. A large amount of their maximum psychic energy was absorbed, and in return, the outer shell slowly cracked, taking more than ten seconds to break off a small piece the size of a palm.

The more they looked, the uglier their expressions became.

"The efficiency is much worse than the first time."

"So many collectors' mental power could only cause this level of damage to the outer shell?"

"I really don't know how the pillars of the earth's veins could completely collapse during a magnitude 2 earthquake..."

"It seems the data this time will be very pessimistic."

The absorption, which lasted for more than two minutes, quickly ended. The mental energy limits of more than forty data collectors were drained, and the terminal panel shut down.

In return, all they received was minor damage to the outer shell of the ley line pillar. This roughly means that to completely disintegrate it would probably require several thousand ordinary Ascended Beings, which is truly outrageous.

That morning, the countries of the Federation uploaded the collected data to a large model for intelligent analysis and prediction using AI.

During this period, another event sparked discussions about the Human Rights Alliance.

That was the "Great Chaos in the Place de la Leroy in France" that occurred in the early hours of the morning.

This massive chaos resulted in thousands of casualties, and the trigger was the opening of fire by government-armed soldiers on civilians.

Because France, like the Roman Empire, did not prohibit gun ownership, civilians could own guns as long as they obtained a gun license. Therefore, when the official armed forces opened fire, some civilians in the marching crowd drew their guns and fought back.

This caused chaos in an instant. Those with guns opened fire, and those without guns used their mental abilities and items to attack. The entire central square instantly turned into a chaotic battleground.

This situation would never have occurred before the rules of the apocalypse, but after more than a year of rule enforcement, everyone's mental state was too repressed, and many harbored an impulse to "destroy everything." This impulse, fueled by gunpowder and bloodlust, materialized, leading to massive casualties caused by non-rule-based actions. That night, over three thousand people were killed or injured in the entire district, and the authorities ultimately had to deploy a large number of armored vehicles to suppress the unrest.

The Federation of Peoples' Societies (FFPS) is paying close attention to this matter because the unauthorized deaths and injuries of thousands are no small matter. Since they are members of the FPS, representatives from other countries have the right to inquire about it.

Somali's female commissioner, Mary, began with a questioning tone: "The authorities have ordered soldiers to open fire on civilians. Do you French authorities want more people?"

Since almost all countries have stopped having children after the apocalyptic rules were implemented, and it is expected that the population will not be replenished for several years while the rules remain in place, human resources have become the most precious asset. Every death is a loss, and this is no joke.

The committee member looked helpless: "We certainly don't want this to happen, because... sigh!"

Seeing that Committee Member Fahe looked pained, Gao Liangwei said, "Whatever your difficulties, please speak frankly. Don't forget that the purpose of the People's Federation is to unite and help each other."

Committee member Fa He looked at Gao Liangwei gratefully: "Thank you, Chairman Gao. Based on our investigation overnight, our preliminary judgment is that there is an extremely cunning, despicable, and heinous sublimator lurking in the country. This guy is very likely to possess some kind of 'mind control' ability, capable of controlling the actions of others."

"This person used his abilities to 'mind control' a large number of civilians and turn them into cultists, obstructing the official data collection on the Leyline Pillars. He himself hid in the shadows, far from the official sight... Although I don't want to admit it, there may also be people in our official ranks who have been 'mind controlled' by that person, thus leaking information about the location of the epicenter."

Upon hearing this, all the committee members present became extremely serious.

Mind control ability to control multiple people?

There is no doubt that this is a very terrifying ability, and if it fell into the hands of an inherently evil person, it would cause such a terrible consequence.

Imagine someone who can hide in the shadows and manipulate others to do things they themselves dare not or are inconvenient to do. If this person has a negative personality, how much harm would that cause to the group?
What's even more frightening is that some people in the legal system and government have also been infected, which is quite alarming.

One committee member asked in bewilderment, "How could high-ranking officials be subject to mind control? Didn't they have any defenses against mental intrusion?"

It's an unspoken understanding among nations that key national figures are equipped with items that defend against mental energy. This is because there are so many different kinds of abilities that are impossible to completely defend against, but the essence of these abilities or items is mental energy. Therefore, if you can defend against mental energy, you can defend against these other things.

"We had it equipped, but it still failed," said the committee member. "It's possible that the opponent's mental strength had a very high limit, which broke through the protection of ordinary props."

"..."

"However, everyone, don't worry. We have already isolated and investigated those who may have been mind-controlled. But the problem is that those who are mind-controlled will lose their memories of when they were controlled, which makes it very difficult to find the evil sublimator."

"This matter is not to be underestimated, and I think all countries should pay close attention to it," a member of a small country said worriedly. "If this person infiltrates and controls high-level decision-makers, wouldn't the entire country be in serious trouble?"

"Yes. You must handle this carefully. If you need help, we can send someone over to help with the investigation."

“No need for that.” The French and German committee member shook his head. “We in France still have our own pride and can handle this problem on our own.”

The committee members looked at each other. France and the United States were indeed very powerful in the past, with their comprehensive national strength ranking among the top five in the world, but things are not like they used to be.

"Let's take a look at the earthquake data." Gao Liangwei then received the analysis results from the AI ​​model analysis department and posted them on the big screen.

The result was very poor.

"According to data provided by various countries, the weakening requirements for the pillars of the earth's veins are positively correlated with the increase in earthquake magnitude, and the increase is huge."

"During a magnitude 1 earthquake, the ratio of maximum mental power to the reduction in earthquake destructive power is 1000:1%. But now, with a magnitude 3 earthquake, the ratio has increased to 4000:1%, a fourfold increase. This means that even if a group of strong individuals with an average maximum mental power of 200 points were gathered together, it would still take a thousand people to reduce the destructive power to below 50%."

"But a magnitude 3 earthquake is only considered minor, right?! If it were a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake, how many people would be needed!"

"It's difficult to estimate right now." Gao Liangwei's expression was also grim. Based on this data, even if tens of thousands of Ascended Beings were gathered when the biggest catastrophe, a magnitude 10 earthquake, occurs at the end of the month, it would only slightly reduce a small portion of the destructive power.

"Is it possible that the path of mitigating destructive power is not viable?" a member of the Sakura Kingdom committee asked in despair. "Humanity can only tough it out and see how many people can survive in the end?"

"Could there be other hidden information that hasn't been revealed? Can't we find out who this mysterious stationmaster really is?!"

"...At present, there is no reason for that stationmaster to conceal important information. If most of humanity were to perish, it wouldn't benefit that stationmaster either."

Someone said with a wry smile, "Is it time to prepare for destruction?"

“No.” Gao Liangwei firmly denied it. “Humanity still has time. We will definitely find a way. I have no doubt about that.”

"What are Chairman Gao's reasons? Is it merely an optimistic belief that humanity will inevitably prevail?"

“Yes,” Gao Liangwei said without hesitation. “I believe humanity will prevail. Moreover, I believe the Firebringer is not some ‘intelligent robot’ that merely issues rules periodically. It must be a being with emotions and thoughts. I firmly believe that these rules are a deliberate attack on our efforts to form a human alliance. As long as we persevere, the future of humanity will surely be bright!”

(End of this chapter)